1. Year-Round Yard
Waste Collection:
Arlington County’s
Experience
Phil Bresee, Chief, Environmental Management
Office, Arlington County Solid Waste Bureau
MWCoG Recycling Committee
September 15, 2016
2. About Arlington County…
• Land area = 26.2 miles
• Population = ~225,000
• Households = ~96,000
– ~64% of households are
apartments or condos served by
private haulers
– ~36% of households are single
family style homes served by the
County’s residential collection
program
• 211,000 at-place employees each
day
• High educational attainment and
income:
– 71% adults over the age of 25 with
BS/BA or higher
– $110,900 per household &
$84,400 per capita incomes
3. Residential Solid Waste Services
• Weekly curbside recycling, yard
waste and trash collections to
33,100 homes (contracted)
– Household solid waste rate =
$307.28 per year
• On-call collection fee-based
services for E-waste, scrap
metals and bulk appliances
(contracted)
• On-call brush collection
• Mulch pickup & on-call mulch
delivery (SWB)
• Self-haul options for CDD
materials (to Earth Products
Recycling Yard)
• HHM drop-off events
4. Solid Waste Management Plan
• 20-Year Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP)
• Adopted by County Board in June of 2004
• 2015 recertification
• Guide for the future growth of the County’s solid waste
management system
• Provides roadmap for program enhancements
over time
• Established recycling rate goals:
– 37% by 2014
– 42% by 2019
– 47% by 2024*
5. Overall MSW Management in Arlington
44.5%
55.5%
Arlington County MSW as
Managed - 2015
Recycled & Reduced Disposed
~70% of MSW is generated by commercial and multi-family sectors
6. Multi-family & Commercial Recycling
• Approximately 50% of Arlingtonians live
in multi-family housing not eligible for
County collections
• Original ordinance became effective
1994 (all businesses)
• ~1,400 properties required to submit
recycling & solid waste plans and be
inspected
• Increased to ~6,000 after 2015 code
changes, includes:
– Tenant businesses in multi-unit
structures now inspected
– Co-location requirement
– Interior bins and exterior bins
• Top compliance challenges:
– Only 43% with co-location
– Only 56% with sufficient # of containers
– 63% meeting education & outreach
requirements
Photo courtesy of Portland Oregon Bureau of Planning & Sustainability
7. Multi-family & Commercial Recycling Tools
Developed Online Toolkit
Property Managers and
Owners:
Printable sign templates
Facts sheets
List of Haulers
Listserv for MF/C property
owners/ managers
9. Brush Collection
• On-call service (paid as
part of HSWR)
• Performed by SWB
crews
• 5,372 tons in 2015 from
1,800 service requests
• Processed at SWB
Earth Products
Recycling Yard
10. Earth Products Recycling Yard
Recycle all organic materials in a closed loop system
Recycle and reuse as much inorganic material as possible
Leaf Collection Leaf Mulch Brush MulchBrush Collection
Dirt shaker-separates clean dirt
from aggregate
Crusher- concrete/asphalt/brick
into aggregate
Trommel- topsoil
Tub Grinder
11. Recycling & Diversion Rates
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
RECYCLING/DIVERSIONRATE
CALENDAR YEAR
Residential Recycling Rate Overall Diversion Rate*
• Leveling off or
slight decrease in
diversion rates
since 2010
• Residential MSW
stream changes
(light-weighting,
less paper, etc.)
• Commercial
sector reporting
challenges
*Includes 5% DEQ credits
12. ISO Opportunities
• Just ~13% of
residential MSW
made up of blue-
cart program
materials
• Need to target
other fractions of
waste stream to
increase diversion
10% 2%
8% 2%
5%
Yard waste
28%
23%
10%
12%
Arlington Residential MSW 2015
Paper &
Cardboard
Metals
Plastics
Glass
Textiles/Linens
Yard waste
Food waste
Other organics
Misc. & Other
13. Opportunities & Approach
• Residential collection services contracts
rebid in 2014 - yard waste collection
pricing sought through RFP
• Pricing from successful proposer
(American Disposal Services):
– $2.83/HH/month
– Carts financed through ADS contract
($11.40 per cart per year; $1.43 per HH
per year maintenance
– FY 2016 impact of $33.96 on HSWR
• County Board approval in November,
2015
• Processing contract with Loudoun
Composting for $32 per ton
14. Asking the Customer
• County surveyed HSWR
customers via Survey Monkey:
– 31,033 customers
– 4,283 total respondents
(evenly spread across
County)
– 70% of respondents indicated
increasing recycling rate was
important
– 60 percent supported adding
yard waste collections
• Made it easier for County
Board to approve program
15. Getting the Word Out
Local press
Direct mail to ratepayers
County website
Direct mail to landscapers &
lawn service providers
February – April: carts
distribution
February – April: Social
media
16. Results Are In!
• 3,430 tons of yard
waste collected
April through July
2016
• Corresponding
trash reduction of
4,094 tons
• 5.2% reduction in
total MSW
generation
Trash
-29.9%
Single-stream
-6.7%
Yard Waste
-40.0%
-20.0%
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
120.0%
-
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
Trash Single-stream Yard Waste
%Change
Tons
2015 2016 % Change
Year-over-year Residential MSW
Trends (April through July)
17. Results Are In!
• Yard waste now
accounts for 7.5% of
residential MSW
• Food waste now
largest single
component
• Projected net fiscal
benefit = $68,300
• Additional tonnages
could add 10%+
points to residential
diversion rate
13.4% 3.7%
7.9%
3.1%
4.7%
7.5%
26.7%
13.2%
19.8%
Arlington Residential MSW 2016
Paper &
Cardboard
Metals
Plastics
Glass
Textiles/Leather
Yard wastes
Food waste
Other organics
Misc. & Other
18. Next Steps?
• Success of yard waste
program pushing up
consideration of food waste
collection
• Processing infrastructure &
capacity key
• Consideration of other
program costs (in-home
pails, bags, etc.)
• In-vessel composting unit for
special events and schools
pilot project
Photo courtesy of Recycling Product News
